Taken from IMDB:
As a parting shot, fired reporter Ann Mitchell prints a fake letter from unemployed "John Doe," who threatens suicide in protest of social ills. The paper is forced to rehire Ann and hires John Willoughby to impersonate "Doe." Ann and her bosses cynically milk the story for all it's worth, until the made-up "John Doe" philosophy starts a whole political movement. At last everyone, even Ann, takes her creation seriously...but publisher D.B. Norton has a secret plan. Written by Rod


This movie is part of the collection: Comedy Films

Director: Frank Capra
Producer: Frank Capra
Production Company: Warner Brothers
Audio/Visual: sound, black & white
Keywords: Comedy; Romance; Drama

Creative Commons license: Public Domain

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Reviewer: Dark Moon - - May 1, 2011
Subject: Heelots!

It turns out that the scene (early in the movie) where Walter Brennan's character explains his coined term "heelots" is somewhat famous (or notorious, depending upon your point of view). Put the word in a search engine, and you turn up video clips of the scene, transcripts of Brennan's lines, and some comments about the idea he presents.

As it turns out, the idea is a fairly ancient one. It is the whole reason why spiritual ascetics, in their quest for inner freedom, turn away from the material world, and why spiritual people who live in the material world practice disciplines to limit its impact upon their lives. The Advaitists speak of "attachment," the bondage that results when our lifestyles and the things we (think we) own wind up owning us. (Their answer: "Work in the world, but do not become attached to the results.") Brennan's "heelots" speech, which says almost the same thing, is in keeping with several spiritual traditions, and points out the same results that they do: non-attachment brings peace and happiness, while attachment brings misery and suffering. To find such a concept presented in a movie targeted at mainstream America—which by then (1941) was well on its way to being a consumer society, with its business leaders doing all they could to foster attachment—surprises me more than a little.

The film presents a few other values that were relevant enough at the time, and much more so to today's Ipod generation. Something to think about, while watching the world go by.
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I too downloaded the MP4 from this page rather than the MP2 from the other one. Clear video and audio, 620x455 resolution, and a much smaller file size made it my choice to watch.

Reviewer: nigeldavahah - - October 17, 2010
Subject: A must see
good

Reviewer: billbarstad - - October 16, 2010
Subject: Typical Capra Fare
A well-made fantasy with a fine cast, the predictable story bored me by the end of the second act. I guess I've had enough Capra, and while Barbara Stanwyck and Gary Cooper were good actors, I've never really cared for their work.

I tried the Quicktime file. It was empty, and should be removed. I then tried the 497MB 512Kb MPEG4 file, but it showed horrendous compression artifacts. Finally, I downloaded the 1.4GB MPEG4 file, and the video was very good, as was the audio. I wish I had tried the 511MB 512Kb MPEG4 file on this page first, though I don't know if it is any good.

Reviewer: atraveler - - October 14, 2010
Subject: Comedy?
I can't for a moment understand how this movie can possibly be considered a comedy. Particularly in today's political climate it's prescience is breathtaking. Think DB Norton would lead the Tea Party?

Reviewer: appledecca - - September 8, 2010
Subject: Frank Capra!
Favourite line from this Capra movie..."No You cant talk to John Doe .. cos he just sits around all day & commutes with himself"...Engaging & enjoyable. Thank You..(oh & theres Nazis hiding under the stairs....in the USA !)

Reviewer: Dioneo - - March 15, 2007
Subject: B/W, not color
It's black and white, not color.